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CHAPTER FOUR499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3S6KigqC1q
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Kirby Hayes stares right at his older brother with a growing fire, an unquenchable thrill, until Ishmael the German Shepherd woofs. They have made it off the planet. They have lost a fistfight with each other. They have stopped and survived a disastrous car wreck together. They’ve ping-ponged their first scandal, leaving Kirby banged up for the wear. And it’s just day one. But Viggo is the one who has somehow made it out on top, unscathed, above the law, and absolutely dominating Skyden. How his brother’s achieved it, Kirby has only begun to imagine. Money? Politics? Loyalty?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIrbYmM8IA
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Iris Frisk’s wondering the same thing, seeing Viggo prowl like a bristling animal. The interns watch him toss a manila folder in a trash can and snaps a lighter. He sets the trash can on fire and says, “New curriculum.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJdJxUqHpR
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“HOLY SH--” Maverick explodes at something on his phone before glancing at Madeline’s little girl. “Cheerios...”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqTiJXcCwg
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Madeline gives him a tired thumb’s up as Dr. Fanfare hands her coffee.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcFwdjlyHT
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Simone snatches Maverick’s phone, eyes widening at the news, and screams. She grips her mouth, “You guys just came out from that wreck?! How are either of you even alive?!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtc42TKpdpv
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Viggo raises scratched hands, “That’s a hoax.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5doS40Avgs
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“Ooh,” Maverick shows something else to Simone. She gasps and hides a smirk.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9KTY7ZfoP
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“My gosh, Kirby,” Simone points at him. “Keep your pants on.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94ATguupRI
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Kirby makes abrupt and awkward laughter. Madeline cups Ruthie’s ears.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRO6LT9rbrl
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Simone and Maverick go seriously quiet at something else. No longer laughing. Viggo demands the phone to be handed over. They get jittery but he insists nothing would happen to it. Viggo blinks at the latest news, processing it as calmly as he could. He hands it back to Maverick and shoots Kirby a glare. He signs too casually: Nice. Playing the deaf card, you little bitch. Does it feel good making your brother look like an audist in front of the world? 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L7EMFnxqI
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Kirby sucks air through his teeth. Iris becomes concerned when she hears that.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJOcGIyCgw
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Viggo announces to the room, “I propose we ban phones from all future meetings. Saves us the trouble. What do you think, Dr. Fanfare?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqiYABVsiq
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July stammers for a minute, studying the interns before asking Viggo, “Oh, have a little pity, will you?” She gestures to the others with timidity. “It’s only the first meeting. Perhaps we can let them off with a warning. For now?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOS8W3YKvd
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Viggo can only grunt at her wisdom.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbY0Hn1QnH
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“Here’s a pro tip. If you really want to be a successful writer,” says Viggo with rambling hands, “or actor or producer or insert job title here, there’s something else you got to be. You have got to be a business. An icon. You and your name must be a brand.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxWY8mDrf0
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Kirby imagines it. His name pops up in his mind as some kind of a summer fuchsia splash, a super fun and mini-sized invitation to a beach party at sunset. He remembers seeing Viggo’s as neon orange and black metallic with a razor sharp edge.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNofMAKTVY
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“Branding is psychology and sociology behind marketing magic. I mean real subliminal stuff. If people can recall your image, people can recall your message. That fits the profile Pegasus Studios always looks for. This is your mission and your first assignment: look like a superstar. Today.”
The interns gab about how awesome their brands are going to be.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvHRMrc80S
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“Skulls,” Simone Chaput insists. “Tiny, tiny skulls and diamonds everywhere.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1JGTrAHED
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“Nice!” Maverick Clark nods. “Mine’s gonna have bricked gold.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQy5H9k0uL
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“You like teddy bears, Ruth?” Madeline Desjardins asks. “Maybe puppies.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6xklmdyXB
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“A big puppy bear!” Ruthie smashes small fists together to her mother’s delight.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnckfbJxqB
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Walking over to one of the globes, Viggo opens a latch. To everyone’s amazement, he presses a button. Hollow clanking roars through the walls. Kirby could sense that. The rumbling grows nearer. The interns look wildly about to see where it’s coming from. Paranoid of the superimposing compass for a domed ceiling, Madeline holds Ruthie’s hand as they huddle.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKJtLNgruy
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A silver glossy pod rises, spiraling up from the floor, before three others do.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrfITbanEt
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They’re humongous dragon eggs, Kirby thinks. Might have come from an Apple lab. The pods emit a spreading chilly fog and then beam a celestial white light show. The name MyHAVEN is impressed into their shells along with their barcode version indicating the latest of its kind. Ruthie, Simone and Maverick make oohing and ahhing noises. Kirby stands on his toes to peek inside them.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNOTOgKhiT
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There’s roomy black chairs with gel support and wired black sunglasses that’s hooked up to the machine. Rainbow striped lights scroll down the inner walls. If they were a game console, Kirby is sure they’re the coolest he’s ever seen. Gnarly.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7hm9Ijtsz
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“The most effective marketing tool for the best of the best,” Viggo explains. He gazes into the wide eyes of his interns, obscuring a fox-like smile. “As you’ll come to know, nothing seems as real … as virtual reality. That is why it sells.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGe4xzOHZk
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“Last month, Professor Taylor purchased these four MyHAVEN pods and had them installed here for your internship. Twenty grand per model, but they came in a bundle deal for seventy five k instead of eighty k. I know, I know, it’s pretty cool. Any questions?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7jJSxDdH6
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Iris raises a hand.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzM8NSs0zVm
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“No questions I see,” Viggo rushes along.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6EbOnDwe6
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Iris slams her table with both palms with angry puckered lips. She addresses the room, “In fact, I do have a question!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBEBNANgfU
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They burst into laughter. She asks the question but Kirby misses it in a blink. Don’t panic. He looks to his brother to see what he says. Maybe he can still figure it out. Viggo makes an obviously annoyed eyeroll. He does respond to her but not with one word in sign language. Kirby’s mouth slacks as nothing comes to mind. Is it worth the trouble?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrQnFSXeU9
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Iris shouts something back but it’s dismissed. She sits down.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGux1dmzFC
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Kirby texts Iris: Huh? What was your question?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3wHN9bHrw
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Frustrated, she texts back: Why would Prof Taylor go thru what he did after a big investment on us? V says it’s an inappropriate topic. We’re not in a class in criminal justice. He says fame can be nasty, that it’s not all glitz and fun for everyone. Whatever.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiX66mJaD4X
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Viggo claps. “You should register with MyHAVEN and when you’re done, type my first name in the search bar. Viggo. My profile and logo will pull up; you should be able to see it. Take your time. It’s a real mind trip. It’s up there at Inception level. I am going to set each pod at a two-hour tour limit. After that, the meeting is officially over and you are all free to go. So ! Are you ready to see... what real branding looks like?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWugGNoyJTJ
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“Can I do this another time? Or never?” Madeline declines as she goes through her bulky bag. She brings out a book for her daughter and a binder for herself. Viggo looks at one spot, getting peeved. “I don’t feel comfortable, I guess, going ‘under’ or going into people’s heads. And I-I’m not taking my eyes off my Ruthie here.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHTHt5xlC1
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“Yeah,” Iris agrees. “I’m sitting this one out too.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5ce6aXL4X
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Viggo replies, “Iris.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ541tZtBSG
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“Miss Frisk,” she happily reminds him.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BCpaXYCaB
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“Miss Frisk, we’ll talk in a minute,” Viggo says, gritting his teeth and cringing. “Miss Desjardins, since this is the first meeting, you get a warning.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12VB3VGoPv
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The room goes still and all eyes rest on Viggo and Madeline.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgi1KiCknSQ
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“As cute as she is, and we all love her, you can’t bring her to the meetings.” Madeline nods painfully. “We need your focus.” She nods again, even harder. “Have you looked at daycares or babysitters? I know of quite a few.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKQ9t3ZVAK
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Madeline sips from her venti mocha and gulps. She stammers, “Um yes, I have, Mr. Hayes. We should find at least one that we like by today, I’m sure? Right, Ruthie?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6Reusu35r
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The girl fakes a vomiting sound, to everyone’s scattered laughter.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzdlFam7SQ
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“You can leave now,” Viggo chuckles.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSZ3D85YDs
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“Okay,” Madeline says, putting her books back into her bag. She looks put on the spot, humiliated, like a pathetic struggling single mother. Kirby feels bad. Viggo’s clearly being discriminative with her. She gets out of her seat, taking Ruthie’s hand. “Come on.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yLKaQbiiv
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The Desjardins leave apologetically before a loud coffee spill.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdI2CVWeuW
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“Someone will clean that up,” Dr. Fanfare calls after her.
“Come on down,” Viggo tells the rest of the interns.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvuU7bxFLhI
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Fantastic. Simone and Maverick leap from their seats and hurry down the steps while Kirby and Iris amble on. The pods hiss, spraying them with faint mist. Viggo assures them that the worst thing that could happen is falling asleep. Kirby doesn’t believe him. But what real choice does he have? Viggo decides for the group that Simone Chaput, Maverick Clark, Kirby Hayes, and Dr. Fanfare are the four participants while he and Miss Frisk will have their moment of privacy.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJkKtkzjMO
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Wonder how that will go.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJZR6YcCGA
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The four step into their egg. Kirby feels already relaxed, body-hugged by his gel recliner. Bathed in rainbow lights, his breathing turns shallow. What if something goes wrong? Something won’t, but what if it does?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKxWJBQqwUT
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His heart starts pounding. Anxiety’s back. He can just see it. The pod spirals down, the floor swallows him up, and this ends up his weird flickering coffin. Trapped under the floorboards deep; hearing nothing; not knowing when to scream. Should he just climb out now? Before it’s too late?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aqfYmBkUi
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Chills crawl down Kirby’s arms to his feet just from thinking about it.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmty1IIOiB1
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Viggo sets each pod’s timer at two hours except for Kirby’s. He says: I hope your bladder is okay. I’m setting yours up to four hours.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vNAxwRfxd
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What!? Kirby wheezes, tensing up.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2claqaQ0L
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Relax! Viggo pushes him back down in his seat. I’ll join you after everyone has gone. Got to look like I am in charge, right little bro? I have a lot to show you. You’re going to have fun, I promise. You know how I keep my promises. 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWELK2oIL2
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Kirby feels sick to the stomach. He checks his phone. It is roughly 9:30 AM right now. He imagines that the interns would be gone by 11:30 before he would by 1:30 PM. Somewhat late to lunch, but he won’t miss it. Four hours don’t sound that bad, he thinks it over.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z7hZ688dO
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He could barely shrug and nod. Good enough for Viggo who does a small wave and returns to Iris and Ishmael before the egg closes and locks. It seals shut.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypv60PM5fh
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Kirby runs his fingers over the lines, almost not feeling them at all. He locates several vents and breathes easier. Just keep cool. Nothing will go wrong. The rainbow lights cut to a dull gray. He fits the black sunglasses over his worried, shifty eyes. All he sees is a warm fuzzy black screen with incredibly high resolution.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwdJdJitl2
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Then with a low whine, MyHAVEN fades in with an eerie glow. It is loading.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqK3i2gdGd
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He takes a few minutes to register, typing his username as Kirby-Hayes. The egg does a full body scan, firing like a child’s laser gun. As it zaps, he shouts “Whoa!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQ08aiDiv3
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An avatar that is an exact replica of him appears before his eyes. He marvels at his twin who acts too freely to be a mirror. Kirby adjusts his avatar’s clothes to a sharp tux resembling his brother’s. Call me lazy. Instead of orange, he goes for ghostly fuchsia. That’s enough decorating, he’s decided.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlh7Q3PVM0o
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He types in Viggo’s name which brings up at the top of the list, just above Viggo Mortensen. It’s not in alphabetical order, but ranked by popular searches. Of course, I shouldn’t be this surprised but for some reason, I am.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHUkijhC5D
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MyHAVEN cuts to the same warm black screen with a gray side menu on the right. He sees that there’s options to choose from like going to his Profile or to Exit entirely. It is loading. He sees the empty horizontal bar fill up with billowing smoke.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2UWtv74LB
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Soon, he will enter this world of Viggo Hayes’s design.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMW5rfQpJdX
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Oh god. Is this such a good idea? Kirby holds his breath, assuring himself that it’s only in his head, that it should be safe.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaidfi3DZp
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Darkness splits, doors sliding open and revealing the vast galaxy.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvDoXgmL8sP
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Trillions of stars, all around him and underneath, welcome him with nothing propping him up. Oh my god, it’s loud with heart-stopping howls. His legs scramble through nothing and start kicking frantically. It’s no use. He falls.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1Ew7Gzem8
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He spears headfirst to the bright nearby Moon. Hundreds of craters and thick moon dust await him one mile below. Heavy layers of wind collide with his body and rise. Whoosh-slap, whoosh-slap, whoosh-slap! 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnkD4VreZd
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When the interns skydive in formation with him, cheering and laughing, he realizes he can hear their echoing voices among the other unearthly noise. There’s a deep background of sounds, and he’s deaf to none of it.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZO4qptlh5T
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Kirby clutches his head with agony. I don’t like this.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMNO4oRTft
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He struggles with the explosive wind to lean his body in closer to the interns, preferring to be closer to them. It’s different from seeing them together in a hallway or in a rosewood study. This time, they’re skydiving.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVea8nEzkw
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Despite that they’re falling to the Moon, there is at least unlimited air. He gasps it all in and breathes out. This is okay. This is epic, this is soothing, and this comes with a youthful essence. He tells himself as outrageous as it is, it’s still a lucid dream.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZdA7JPLu8
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This is Viggo’s dream, Kirby starts to understand. This is what his mind looks like. The Moon approaches dangerously near. His heart wants to leap out of his chest right now.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF0amfhmJE
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Kirby notices a gleaming multiplex theater smack dab in the middle of the white desert. He careens there, somersaults, and lands softly with a thump in a dune. He bounces off and hops, startled from the feeling of how the ground hit his feet. Too real, he thinks with terror, smelling the bitter gunpowder. This is too real for me. I want out.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYN3uX2QkIs
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Simone Chaput lands, showing off her dark black skin in her blue filigree dress. She wears a silver wig straight and long enough to rustle at her eyebrows and naked shoulders. Her heels stomp, sporting two diamond human skulls that cradle her toes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFHO0JeBt0
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Maverick Clark lands, showing off the world’s tallest punk hair. He rocks his erectile crest back and forth like a pink cockatoo and riffs at his invisible wailing electric guitar. He’s dressed from head to toe in heavy black clothes and boots with pink earphones that blink eyes and grin at other people like cartoon characters.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08Sx0jj6ff
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Dr. Fanfare lands and bounces besides Kirby. Her white grandma hair is tethered back in a loose bun. She dusts her same vest and blazer from before, coughing up a storm and laughing. “Now I can finally say that I’ve been to the Moon! Yahtzee!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kSNG4zlWm
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But Kirby is hardly happy or can stay coherent. He gets dizzy. People are chattering and overlapping too loudly, and the multiplex theater is playing deafening music. What a migraine. Kirby’s head feels like it’s about to burst. He finds the Mute button to toggle. Sweet, sweet silence! He sighs orgasmically. The pain and nausea cease altogether.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGy6uOPABl
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And people wonder why he doesn’t just get hearing aids or cochlear implants.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWPo5MIxv2
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English subtitles spell out for him like magic, translating every word they say. He smiles. That’s perfect. This is good. I’m liking this already.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAaTInMqMN
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MaverickClark: Look at that! This theater’s YUGE!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkqBR9AooS
SimoneChaput: I’m loving the red carpet. Ready for my close-up, fellas.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AR8fdenXD
DrFanfare: You look sick, Kirby! 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94kK1Z167c
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He smiles and assures her he’s feeling much better now.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSg4wVXg8s
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Entering the busy multiplex theater is overwhelming. First, the reflection of the lunar scape in the glass door startles him. As Kirby’s hands wrap around the cold steel bar that is surely a door handle, his dress shoes scrape against the ridges of the metal door frame. He knows he is not here. He knows he has never been here. That doesn’t matter. Here feels like a physical place, and it feels wrong.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkCMbsWth8
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The rich aroma of buttered popcorn and kettle corn hit them like a wall. Crowds of moviegoers pack the place, standing in lines for twenty-dollar tickets to virtually real Pegasus films and all kinds of candies and sodas sold.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa62uOqPRl0
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DrFanfare: All that junk food, no side effects. No upset stomach, no acid reflux, no bacne. It’s genius if you ask me. 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8CK0deqHE
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It registers on Simone’s face.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiN08Moisx
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SimoneChaput: You’re right... This is a real theater, but better. 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWl6tZj5Vq
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Maverick grips Kirby’s shoulder out of morbid fascination. They hug, which seems real and kind of a pleasant tingling.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIoY2eajcl
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MaverickClark: Sorry. Now I kinda feel perverse.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RQoOltY41
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“You should be,” Kirby mouths, getting them to laugh. He tries tapping his knuckles hard against the wall. It’s solid, and damn, it kind of smarts. Actually, it does hurt. He checks his avatar’s knuckles but sees no cuts or blood.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcZbYqJhXt
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They approach an enormous banner, a poster, and a cardboard cutout of Sky’s Falling! It is decked out with a square version of Skyden, bombing and falling in pieces. It is an exaggerated, horrific doomsday for those onboard hurtling towards planet Earth.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnSrDqUe3G
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eeYZG4Tkg
DrFanfare: I’ve never actually seen the movie, Sky’s Falling, yet. I heard it’s incredible! Have you seen it? 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwR44ZDiAjO
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Simone and Maverick eagerly admit they haven’t either.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmmW8SptZk
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchZpO79Su2
SimoneChaput: I’ve been itching for an opportunity though.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAVNGGWRFs
MaverickClark: Especially here! And now! I’m so in. 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMa2iMpNj9
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Kirby blushes, not knowing what to say other than he hopes they’re left at least entertained. He hasn’t even begun to fathom how his screenplay would play out in virtual reality. That’s beyond 3D, that’s like 5D, isn’t it? He wonders. Huh.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTp9Bzqu5g5
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He frowns at a camera slowly tracking him.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyhiBmIyjS
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They spend twenty dollars and two hours through Kirby’s movie. He could hide and beam the entire time, proud of his only accomplishment. Even though he didn’t touch the movie or influence the final cut in any way like his brother had, Kirby has still locked down the credit of being the sole writer. It says “Written by Kirby Hayes. Directed by Viggo Hayes.” Kirby thinks it sounds better that way instead of “Written and Directed by the Hayes Brothers”. Everyone will start believing that Viggo will have relinquished some creative control when it’s far from the truth. Though the Hayes brothers thing still may be in their near future.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCMWiWwtd9
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Kirby ignores the dread of how much heartache he’s going to get from Viggo. He focuses instead on other moviegoers. The way their faces light up and their mouths collectively gasp remind him why he’s come here. I am going to get in Pegasus Studios. Kirby makes fists. I have to.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1LKJxcJ68
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The audience screams at last at the menacing part when the satellite city rips apart. Boom, boom, boom, a succession of flying bodies and metal scraps! Spinning debris fling down to Earth. They storm through the skies exactly the way they arrived to Viggo Hayes’s moon theater. They fall towards the tumbling ocean blue.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEXT9WBSOb
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Fade to black. Credits crawl.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwRh7PtogD
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DrFanfare: Good job, Kirby! I loved it. Whoop, our two hours are just about up. Byebye. See you on the other side, everyone!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7UZwc1YdM
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As Simone and Maverick dote him shamelessly, they murmur dazed farewells and log out with Dr. Fanfare. Kirby stays behind and can’t stop grinning like a fool. Even Simone would want to work with him now. This is a dream come true, a dream within a dream.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnH8QZa5rc
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He wanders through his brother’s world, the idle halls of his brother’s owned theater. Kirby can’t help but respect him. He sits back on a bench to rest his eyes for a second. Oh wait. He starts to remember. I could fall asleep right now. No wonder the others sounded so drowsy.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RFjB88uTP
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Man, I have another two hours left to wait around for Viggo. I can’t simply leave either. He’d be livid from looking for me for too long. Kirby gets back on his feet, looking around the theater for a good distraction.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgOQyDYHQP
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The popcorn stand catches his eye. He gets that funny feeling.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVToebZ7JI4
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Kirby makes it behind the counter, inspecting the area for something abnormal. So far, it’s a boring and greasy workplace. He becomes irritated with crunching over kernels. They stick to the soles of his shoes. Hmph, nothing.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepF6yfsxaT
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Thought there was something secret here.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodLogso3sN
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Another door catches Kirby’s eye. It would lead to the back of the theater. Tucking his hands into his skin-tight dress pants, he follows the empty hallway farther into what seems like a dark warehouse or a garage. The air gets colder. Moon sand is blown inside.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JQkFfdeGU
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“HELLO!” Kirby shouts freely.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYporR4IZH
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The subtitles notify him that the shout echoes a dozen times before fading to a sad droning whisper. He pauses. That is a particularly creepy detail for Viggo to add in his world. What is this place? He looks among the shadows.
A distant thud echoes. 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEw9mAaU66
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To his horror, Kirby looks back. Nothing stirs.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXmnHtfQIS
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This place is still otherwise empty. His hand presses against his chest, calming his blipping heart. Okay, I think I’m getting out of here. He turns face and bumps into dangling feet.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDRo6yx2PR
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He scrambles back from Viggo Hayes’s body hung from a red noose. Oh shit.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNBmYI8z1t
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His brother’s psycho orange eyes bulge, jaw open and aghast. Drool drips from his perfect white teeth. There’s not a finger twitch or a muscle clench, but the body looks real. And dead. The suit blinks orange like a Halloween tree. Kirby could die himself right now from the fright. It’s just an avatar, he tells himself.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbNsoa8LVP
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It’s just someone’s sick prank.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiV6r8Dsn2x
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He gasps at the sight of a single bedbug on the cement floor. Okay, now he is sure something’s terribly wrong. Viggo hates bedbugs.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86H1jiMrmA
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Kirby frowns. What’s going on? He’d never put that in his world. One bedbug becomes hundreds skittering and crawling from the darkness.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCYDBhwQUs
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Oh! He pulls back. Hordes of bedbugs stampede and flood toward him, becoming thousands and counting, drawn magnetically to the smell of his blood. That’s awful. He can’t get away from them. They smother his shoes, covering them completely from sight. Kirby moans and leaps back, stomping on them. But they continue to smother. He itches at his neck like a madman. Too disgusting. Too real.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRaOTeFlZW
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A bright light bursts. A video plays, projected on one wall. It is dated earlier this year. What’s this? It’s the rosewood study, Kirby recognizes. He’s still there.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXI0fxZY3F
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Professor Taylor watches him from afar with furious, fearful eyes. He’s bearded with white hair, like a sea captain who’s now a dead one.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiISrHHDaFM
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23FkWpkkMc
DomTaylor: “Stop filming. I don’t trust drones.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzoYz9hYDG
ViggoHayes: “Sorry, cap’n.” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRmT00WRWw
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnyl15NZaH
Viggo Hayes steers the camera until it lands across Professor Taylor’s large desk. Ishmael lopes over with protruding wet nostrils and sniffs. Kirby moans again at the swarming bedbugs that now creep up his legs. It’s not real. But his gut tells him that something about this video is real, and it’s something he shouldn’t be seeing. He searches for what that is.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMhx0R5sR8
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The bugs reach his inner thighs. This is so wrong, he whimpers, but the bugs are nothing. Nothing! He clamps down his lips, watching the video.
Professor Taylor rifles through his manila folder.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdu1x5BskV
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4P4XC54W5
DomTaylor: “I’ve handpicked the winners by the way.” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNziRNIMC65
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This makes Viggo and Kirby pause. He’s talking about the contest.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDzYHlbLpQ
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ViggoHayes: “Winners? There should be only one.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0LCx9MEGIz
DomTaylor: “Oh, there’s one, publicly. The other’s a runner-up; her name won’t be announced but she’ll be one of the interns.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhHxXzyIsj
ViggoHayes: “All right. Who are they?”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWIwkDOpVW
DomTaylor: “Kirby Hayes and Iris Frisk.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazfN1rxS6Q
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This makes Viggo and Kirby freeze. But Viggo looks a touch betrayed.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4FSXspHHO
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DomTaylor: “What’s the matter? Thought you’d look more pleased.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSJAwwjTXc
ViggoHayes: “Why are you doing this to me?” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVVPgWjHsH
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Viggo’s forgotten he’s filming himself as his face contorts into something ugly. He suddenly tackles Professor Taylor to the floor. Ishmael goes insane and hysterical, barking nonstop, but cannot break them up. The men wrestle onto the floor, banging and slamming into the furniture. The camera falls next to the floor.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOdn4Fcgwo
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Each man throws wild punches at their faces and unprotected areas, but Taylor’s the one who quickly makes it on top. The camera’s kicked away.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBlIuqrB6d
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Kirby can’t believe his eyes. Ishmael fills the office with his mournful cries and howls. Using both hands and all of his weight, Professor Taylor chokes Viggo who digs his nails deeper into Taylor’s long gash of a cheek scar. The man screams out before a beefy fist clocks Viggo hard.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRwdEYlcxl
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4KDppMTo2
Viggo’s jaw smashes the floor. He spits out blood and a tooth.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBMMtmFB8T
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2HK0ywF6V
Ishmael’s howls waver to whines.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6e3A5YHTuy
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBnoCormHB
DomTaylor: “Enough!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3swjMEHAK
ViggoHayes: “You promised you wouldn’t choose them, Dom ...” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJG53zcHbzd
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Taylor stands to his feet, panting. He glares down at him with distaste.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBP070iP61N
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DomTaylor: “That was before I saw their work. I would be one stupid son of a bitch to turn them away. When I look at them, I don’t see interns. I see cash cows. Golden goose eggs. You and your personal feelings have gotten in my way for the last time!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BzFPSA7ch
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLfF8euXlS
The video is put on pause. It glitches. Kirby shakes the bedbugs off his face, trying to make sense of it. That’d be inspiring and uplifting for him if it weren’t for the fact that they got violent over it. I didn’t know Viggo would get that upset. And why ... is there a video playing of it?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpEwtDTqa9
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Subtitles inform him of the footsteps behind him. He slowly looks back and goes weak in the knees.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxyLHb7BlG
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHayR9ZTfpY
The Spook trudges out of the dark, out of the steamy home of scattering bedbugs, with a wooden sad mask. Kirby is rooted to the spot as it all comes together. It’s the same person he’s seen on the road this morning. Their near death experience, these bugs, and that video have everything to do with that weirdo.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEYIFP6taU
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68qbI6qOyX
He flinches when the Spook points a gloved finger his way.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3oE4BXctm1
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“Boo.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGoSx93Zjy
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Kirby squeezes his eyes. It’s just virtual. It’s MyHAVEN. It’s just a bad dream. I am untouchable. Seeing nothing, I’m feeling nothing. His breathing starts to regulate, calming down back to normal. Deny, deny, deny. It’s purely psychological…499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EDXYrMdXR
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He peeks again. The Spook points at him, this time in broad daylight.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvCaqu9nWy
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“Sorry you lived. I’ll try harder next time.” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FMzmRUcB4
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Sitting cross-legged in the middle of a railroad, Kirby feels the pebbles jump and nip at his skin. Oh no. He realizes it too late when the train rams into his spine, two hundred tons ripping through his puny body, severing him in half.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3807ZulhCQ
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He dies.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0V9YLZkcV
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This numb brutality snaps him awake in mid-air. The sky, the road, the grass, they all rush by in a savage whirl. Kirby’s back in the car now with Viggo’s dead body, spinning about in slow motion.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXcQMGyFhv
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His brother flails about like a dead-eyed mannequin. There is no sense of control. Only weightlessness and the promise of weight being delivered. Only suspension and the promise of a delayed end. He lets out the longest scream in his life.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ROxza33pw
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Kirby’s head slams into the ceiling when the roof of the car hits the ground. A sharp spasm jolts through his boiling neck and spine. He coughs out liters of blood, watching Viggo fly out of a window. His leg gets torn on the frayed window, being left behind a wobbling carved piece of flesh.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNXpCi2Rv6
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Bits of glass and drops of blood rain into the deep pores and wrinkles of his face. The car tumbles across the ground, turning over and over. He wakes up again in mid-air. Viggo’s back inside the car. So is he.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCK5GPs07eZ
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Kirby realizes Viggo has his hand wrapped around the emergency brake.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCislAHlmYo
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They stare at each other.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJnsjvMFho
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The Spook means to torture him for as long as the timer on his pod keeps ticking. A two-hour night terror. He looks at his right where the side menu should have been but is missing. Somehow the Spook has blocked him. Overriding him. Viggo nods at him this time. Kirby croaks out a no… ! The car smashes through the parked police cars. The Spook watches them from behind their seats as bedbugs crawl all over them. Wait, wait, no!499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHeXlKGQDc
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The car flips.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMyEdwhWei
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He braces himself as the car slams into a guardrail. They are showered in sparks as blunt as hail. Viggo’s torn asunder, scattering apart in all directions with glass. Strings and gobs of milky blood stretch out thinly, a strange crimson.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdmEAu1MaG
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Kirby’s face is thrown forward.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJAd4a6V91
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His skull shatters grisly upon impact, skin shuddering and splattering along the gritty asphalt. He feels his arms snap. He feels how his clavicle cracks. His neck is bent out of shape. His body is mangled all wrong, and he can feel every dislocated joint. He learns the mesh of road and bone. He tries also to become numb to it.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrk6Y01axm0
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He dies again.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYeT5fAOXT
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His eyes are squeezing shut when the engine sputters to life. His seat rattles. His skin crawls. His hair rises. Deja vu. Kirby braves opening his eyes back on the plane.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wZlQdyzrj
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His knees shake freely and out of control, no longer knocking into anyone. It is an evacuated plane, but it’s surely the same plane that blows up.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MvtbLqVe1
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No way. Kirby yanks at his seat belt but it does not budge. He pulls with everything he has, yelling to suppress the raw burn in his hands. The plane starts moving. No, he thinks sobbing like an useless thing. Trapped.
He sees someone familiar rush at him, fumbling with his seat belt. His jungle green eyes grow feral. Kirby is startled to see Chance again. That handsome face he hasn’t seen in forever hollers at him to snap out of it. The man brings out a long military knife and starts sawing crazily through the thick restraints.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHnbHKpa6y
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When Kirby’s finally freed, they claw at their shirts, embracing so tightly that they feel each other’s heartbeats. Chance smiles at his smile.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjsp73cmH3
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Kirby grins a bigger one back at him.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfnhFzu5nZ
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Anonymous: “You’re okay.” 499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPJZzUnGgC
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrznT6B4ew
Kirby nods. Despite the recent nightmare, he’s now convinced that this is still nothing. It’s just for two hours, even less. He can do this, now that his hero Chance Gott is really here.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK85EK6X3U
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They run out of the plane on wobbly legs. They make their way into a seemingly empty airport. They look wildly around. No passengers, no reporters, and no dead bodies. There’s no one.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06e3XJxafn
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But the Spook emerges. “Your time is coming.”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivYKmjRsv5
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS80hUTQVuE
Chance tenses up, seeing that sad mask for the first time. The plane smokes something terrible, setting on fire.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaL1LDsdxrQ
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Kirby grips Chance’s arm. He brings out a keyboard and clacks away, piling up strings of coding and symbols. Line after line, formulas and their functions go way over Kirby’s head but they bring immediate changes to the environment.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRK8JbPDmEL
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7vXCcKixr
Their world gets erased with a zip, turning blank. It in fact turns bright white, leaving nothing behind but three avatars.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqu2IRwIrZ
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eH2Thqn8Q
Kirby sees the side menu light up again at his right. He’s no longer blocked. He should be able to escape now. His fingers are ready to jab at the Exit button but hesitate. However, Chance roars at him. “Go! Now!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsR4T7GGg9
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrxZYXt87U
Kirby jabs at the Exit button. Like a deflating balloon, it all goes black.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOf7Wj3Pl8V
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The MyHAVEN pod unlocks, opening slightly ajar by itself.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvAmpL1Iit
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Kirby pants heavily. He’s all numb and can’t keep his eyes open. His heart is pounding at its hardest, as if he’s done a triathlon. His hair and his clothes are drenched in cold sweat. His trembling fingers reach out of the egg. Doesn’t anyone see me?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvCrfDoNv0
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He can’t see either. He rests for another minute, panting. However, the silence doesn’t mean no one’s there. He knows that. Come on, Kirby begs of himself. Wake up.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVwk65zTg3
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His wrist leans into the door, prying it open slightly. His shoulder presses into it. Fucking open.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiGoJqGisF
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlavNBVM2u
The door opens to a dark room. The sun has gone down, leaving Skyden a pitch-black one-o-clock in the afternoon. How long was I under? His phone tells him that only four hours have passed, like Viggo’s said.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7K49QdPTFt
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Kirby sighs with relief, drooling on the floor. It occurs to him that Skyden orbits the earth twice in one day. Two sunrises, two sunsets. Noontime here is always as dark as nighttime.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5z9l9FgJKB
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIFDRVIS3x
Kirby climbs out of the pod and his shoulder crashes onto the floor. He moans softly. Not so numb anymore. That hurts. The room starts spinning back and forth, leaving him dizzy and blind. He blinks as much as he can.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qOm2GqMHL
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A shadow lurks through the rosewood study.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6K7fDxN98A
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His heart pounds. Please, he thinks. Not like this.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfiMhegcvH
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The silhouette passes some windows, walking briskly for someone who’s seen Kirby. Unless he hasn’t. Kirby remains still, holding in his ragged breaths as best as he could. It is a man or a woman walking by with a familiar face. Who is it?499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitry8pTnlh
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSpXOdIHuy
A haunting face.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFaqBp7g07
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An impossible face, bearded white.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4BLV4xT6n
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMChDX4lHS
The ghost of Professor Taylor passes a dim lamp. His furious, fearful eyes glare. Taylor roams around his study in the darkness before slipping through the back door. Kirby squints, rubbing at his eyes.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQutANhuAu
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPACMgUuQr
His brother saunters out of Taylor’s office, chasing after who left. Viggo looks terrorized as he kicks a giant hole in the wall. He screams, “Fuck!”499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZq5OFqqbCE
499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7IfRpPUOzS
No, Kirby realizes. Professor Dominic Taylor is very much alive.
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.225da2
